


Where's A Sinkhole When You Need One?

by RainbowBuddy



Series: The Owl House Cafe (SCU) [1]
Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Based on a True Story, Cafe AU, F/F, Gratuitous Hipsters, Kinda, Suggestive language, Swearing, asshole friends, college age, creative writing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-13 10:34:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29650026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowBuddy/pseuds/RainbowBuddy
Summary: When Amity develops a crush on a cute barista, her friends decide to help her out in the most awkward possible way.
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Boscha/Skara (The Owl House)
Series: The Owl House Cafe (SCU) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2182164
Comments: 34
Kudos: 190





	Where's A Sinkhole When You Need One?

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to Rohad for being a sounding board and dylemma91 for being an amazing beta reader!

The bell jingles dimly overhead as Amity enters the cramped coffee shop. She pauses by the door to survey the place. Dim lighting illuminates a grungy aesthetic with a mural running the full length of the near wall and bits of graffiti, clearly deliberate, decorating the table and chairs. The clientele, too, seem to run more from gritty punks to aloof hipsters, rather than the well-shod people she sees at her usual coffee place.

But the place is busy, it’s humming with activity in fact, and Amity hopes that means two things. One, that the coffee will be drinkable; and two, that the coffee will be _fast._ She has absolutely no desire to be late for class and it’s already a big enough inconvenience that her usual cafe, _Redstone_ , is closed.

Finally she nods. _The Owl House_ will have to do.

She shuffles to join the queue in front of the counter and idly scans the cakes and muffins on display. As she waits, she examines the mural opposite the queue and finds herself somewhat impressed by the work. The biggest, most obvious feature of the mural is a large, beautiful owl soaring over a city at night, but as she looks closer she notices tiny details. Anthropomorphic owl people cover the cityscape. The detail is incredible, as the painting reveals glimpses through tiny windows of owl people drinking, dancing, studying, watching TV. Amity frowns and peers closer. There, a couple locked in a passionate embrace while an unsuspecting partner returns home. There, a mugging in an alley. There, an owlman walking a tiny dog.

Amity jumps when someone taps her shoulder and gestures at the gap in front of her. The queue has moved on and Amity fills the gap, dragging her eyes away from the intriguing artwork. As the person in front of her makes their order, she turns off her noise cancelling headphones and hangs them around her neck. She blanches and hides a grimace as a wave of sound - other customers, hissing steam wands, and the blare of trendy alternative rock - washes over her. As the other person moves off, Amity steps forward and begins digging around in her handbag for her wallet.

“Hi there!” a bright and cheerful voice chirrups, “what can I get you?”

“Hi, I’ll take a-” Amity looks up and her voice dies in her throat.

The woman in front of her is _gorgeous_. Her brown eyes are warm and friendly, deep earthen pools that Amity wishes she could get lost in. Her dark hair is shaved on the back and sides but left longer on top in a mess of loose curls. A grayscale full-length sleeve runs up an athletic-looking left arm and Amity can make out a similar art style to the mural and, when the woman turns to grab a takeaway mug off the top of the coffee machine, Amity spies another tattoo on her side through her loose singlet. She also catches a glimpse of the woman’s purple bra and flushes bright red, looking down hurriedly.

“Sorry, what was that?”

Amity blushes even redder. _You haven’t given her your order, idiot!_

“C-can I have a double shot latte to go, please?”

“Any sugar?”

Amity shakes her head no.

“Name?”

Amity curses her pale skin as she blushes again. “Amity,” she mumbles.

The woman jots this down and smiles and her smile is stunning, wide and welcoming. “That will be ready in a couple of minutes if you wanna wait at the bar.” She points to the end of the counter where there are a handful of bar stools, some of them already occupied.

Amity pays her for the coffee and moves down to perch on the faux leather. Slipping her headphones back on over her head, she drowns out the cacophony with her musical theatre playlist. As the powerful voice of Idina Menzel blasting out Defying Gravity begins to fill her ears, she rests an elbow on the counter and leans her head in her hand. As surreptitiously as possible, which is probably not very, she watches the barista.

There is a lightness to everything she does as she steps gracefully around her co-workers, expertly navigating the cramped space. Her eyes twinkle in the soft lighting as she laughs at something a customer says to her. Amity smiles when the woman picks up a glass by tossing it lightly into the air and catching it. She finds herself completely enamoured by the gentle flex of muscles in this woman’s arms as she goes about her work and is very grateful that her current perch gives her a better view.

Amity jumps when a takeaway cup is slammed down in front of her. A tall, skinny guy with brown hair says something but she misses it as she frantically pulls her headphones off.

“Double shot latte?” He repeats.

“Oh, yeah. That’s me. Thanks.” She scoops up the coffee and turns to leave, but not before she casts one final glance back at the intriguing stranger.

Amity pauses outside the door and places her coffee on one of the outdoor tables for a second while she readjusts her headphones. Once properly situated, she moves off towards university and takes her first sip of coffee.

It’s good.

Really good.

Between the hot barista and the excellent coffee, Amity is really glad she decided to check out _The Owl House._

She will definitely be back.

She warms her hands against her coffee in the crisp morning air and, out of idle curiosity, turns the cup to examine the other woman’s handwriting. It’s a messy scrawl, but there it is. Unmistakeable.

Amy.

***

Amity is quick to incorporate _The Owl House_ into her daily routine. She has worked out - not because she’s stalking her or anything - that the attractive barista only has the morning shift on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays; on Tuesdays and Fridays, she works in the afternoon.

She is pleasantly surprised that the tattooed young woman recognises her whenever she comes in the store. Unfortunately, this also presents something of a problem.

“Morning, Amy!”

The barista still thinks her name is Amy.

“Hi,” she replies shyly. “How are you?”

“I can hardly complain on a beautiful day like today,” the other woman says. Amity marvels at her seemingly never-ending good cheer. It even appears to be genuine, damn near a miracle in the hospitality industry.

“Just the usual?” she continues.

“Yes please. To have here today though,” Amity replies, glowing with happiness that this beautiful stranger bothered to remember her order. Once again, she shyly retreats to her perch at the end of the bar where she pulls out a notebook and half-heartedly jots down some ideas for her creative writing class. Mostly, she just watches the woman.

Amity is no stranger to crushes, she’s had more than her fair share, but this one is burning a little brighter than most. Brown eyes meet hers across the room and she feels pink rush into her cheeks as she frantically looks down at her notebook and pretends to write something down.

She is startled by the clatter of crockery as her coffee lands next to her and jumps slightly.

“Sorry,” the woman says with a grin, “Didn’t mean to sneak up on you there.” She leans languidly against the counter and peeks curiously at Amity’s notebook, “What are you working on?”

“Oh,” Amity says, glancing around the cafe and realising there is a brief lull in the usual thrum of activity, “Er, it’s just an assignment. For uni.”

“Nice,” she says, “What are you studying?”

Amity tucks a strand of brown hair behind her ear, “English literature and theatre studies.”

The woman fairly beams, “Very cool. Do you-” She looks up as the doorbell rings and then smiles easily at Amity, “Ah well, back to the daily grind.” She drops a casual wink in Amity’s direction as she moves back to the counter to begin serving the new customer.

Amity stares after her, struck dumb by a wink.

She lingers long after her coffee is finished but the woman does not approach her again. In fairness, she doesn’t really have an opportunity to do so. Eventually, though, Amity can linger with intent no more and she begins packing up her things. The barista is making a coffee but turns her head at the movement and smiles.

“Bye Amy, see you next time!”

“Yeah, bye.” Amity smiles back shyly and turns to leave. Then she turns back and forces herself to speak before she thinks better of it, “Uh, what’s your name?”

The woman beams. “It’s Luz.”

“Right, bye Luz.”

***

Amity smiles at Skara across the coffee table. She is grateful her friend agreed to meet her here rather than at their old coffee place.

“So this is where you’ve been going instead of _Redstone_?” she asks.

Amity nods, “They have really good coffee.”

Skara smiles, “I guess we’ll see.” She looks around the room curiously. “I like their music, not really your style though.”

Amity shrugs but her reply is interrupted when Luz delivers their order to their table with a flourish. “Hi Amy, here’s your coffee.”

Amity blushes slightly and tries to ignore Skara mouthing ‘Amy’ across the table at her. “Thanks, Luz.”

“Let me know if I can get you anything else,” Luz says with a wink as she heads back to the kitchen.

Skara reaches across the table to pull her coffee close. “You just really like the coffee, huh?” she says with a smirk. “It has absolutely nothing to do with tall, dark, and stunning over there.”

“Shhh,” Amity says, gesturing frantically at her. “She’ll hear you.”

Skara grins at her, “Sure thing. _Amy._ ”

Amity blushes again, “She misheard me the first time she took my order, ok?”

“And you haven’t corrected her?”

“No.” She says shortly, praying for an end to this conversation.

“But you hate it when people call you Amy.” She watches Amity knowingly over her mug as she takes a sip and then draws back in surprise, “Damn, this _is_ good coffee.”

“I told you so.”

“So,” Skara says, returning to the conversation without preamble, “Are you gonna ask her out?”

This is the problem with childhood friends, Amity muses. They do see the conversational Stop signs you put up, they just blaze right past them.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I- Be- Because she’s working!”

“So?”

“ _So_ , I don’t wanna be one of those assholes who hits on their barista or bartender or whatever. It’s not cool. Plus,” she says, instinctively knowing this argument will carry little weight with her friend, “I don’t even know if she likes women.”

Skara raises her perfectly coiffed eyebrows. “Amity. Please.” She looks over at Luz who is wearing an army green overshirt over a loose singlet along with tight, dark jeans stuffed into oversized combat boots. “That girl is about as straight as I am.”

Amity _wants_ to argue with her, but looking at Luz doesn’t really leave her with a lot of options. She settles eventually on pouting and saying, “Appearances can be deceiving.”

Skara hums in thought for a moment and then beams as a new song clicks over on the stereo.

“I’ll find out,” Skara says brightly, jumping to her feet and moving towards the counter before Amity can stop her.

“Skara! Wait!” But short of causing a scene, all Amity can do is watch, mortified, as Skara leans against the counter and strikes up a conversation with Luz.

She returns a few minutes later with a muffin and a smug expression.

“What did you _say_ to her?” Amity hisses.

“I asked her if she chose the music. She did.” Skara says as if that settles the matter.

“And?”

“Oh, _Amy_ ,” Skara says, shaking her head in pity at her. “It’s _Girl in Red._ ”

Amity gives her a blank look and Skara snorts and shakes her head.

“And she calls herself a lesbian,” she mutters under her breath. “Look, just trust me. That girl bats for our team.”

***

“You’re _sure_ you don’t mind reading it?”

“Amity, just hand the damn thing over! I told you, I’m happy to!”

Amity clutches the loose packet of papers closer to her chest and looks suspiciously at her, “And you promise you won’t make fun of me?”

“I promise! Now, gimme,” Skara makes grabby hands across the table at her.

Amity holds it out reluctantly before snatching it back at the last second, “And you promise you won’t tell Boscha?”

“Won’t tell Boscha, what?” Another voice says behind her. A lean body leans over Amity and grabs the papers before she can do anything else. “Yoink!”

“Give that back!” Amity cries out.

“Nah,” Boscha says easily as she expertly avoids Amity’s flailing arms. She skips around the table and slides into the seat next to Skara. “Hi babe,” she says with a smirk and a gentle peck on the cheek.

Skara smiles at her and kisses her properly. For the time being, they both ignore Amity’s increasingly indignant splutters. When Skara draws back from her girlfriend and glances across at Amity, her friend is bright red and breathing heavily.

“Chill, Amity. Give it here before she passes out, babe.”

Boscha just laughs easily and hands it over. “What is it anyway?”

With the paperwork safely in Skara’s hands, Amity calms down a little, but she still has no idea what her friend sees in the other woman. Well, she thinks, amending that thought at the sight of Boscha’s tight muscles shifting visibly under her leather jacket, she doesn’t know what _else_ her friend sees in the woman.

“It’s just my story. Skara’s going to read it for me and tell me what she thinks.”

“Your story?” Boscha scoffs, stealing a bite of Skara’s muffin, “What are you, 12?”

“Now, Bosch’,” Skara chides absent-mindedly as she starts reading. “Amity’s actually really good. You should read some of the stuff she wrote when we were in high school.” She looks up and smiles at Amity, “Just you wait, one of these days Amity’s gonna be a published author.”

Amity beams at Skara’s praise but Boscha just shrugs disinterestedly. Then she perks up a little and glances around the cafe, “So which one’s the one she has a crush on again?”

“Skara!”

Skara has the good grace to look embarrassed. “Sorry Amity, it just slipped out one day.”

“That doesn’t answer the question.”

“Do not-

“The barista,” Skara says simply as she returns to her reading.

“-answer her.” Amity finishes lamely. “Thanks, Skar’.”

“You’re welcome. This is really good by the way.”

Amity grumbles under her breath, “Don’t think you can flatter your way out of this.”

“Who? Me?” Skara says with a grin. Without looking up, she slaps her muffin out of Boscha’s hand.

“Babe!”

“Get your own if you’re so hungry.” She looks up finally and gives her girlfriend a teasing grin, “ _Babe._ ” she adds with faux sweetness.

“Ugh, fine. I wanna scope out ‘hot barista chick’ anyway.” She lumbers to her feet.

“Boscha, don’t you dare-”

“Yeah, yeah, if I say anything I’m dead. Sing a new tune, Blight, that one’s going stale.”

“Do you really have to date her?” she appeals to Skara.

Skara continues reading. “I love her,” she says simply, then she freezes and looks up at Amity.

“You love her?”

“I- yeah, I do.”

Amity glances across the room at Boscha who is lounging against the counter while Luz takes her order. “Have you told her?”

Skara blushes and ducks her head, “Not yet. I will though! Soon. I’m just waiting for the right moment.” She looks back down at the papers in her hands, “I know she can be kind of…”

“Infuriating? Aggravating? Impossible?”

“Rough around the edges.” Skara levels Amity with a look. “But she’s actually really nice, can you two please just try and get along? For my sake?”

Amity huffs, “Tell that to her.”

“I have. I will.” Skara sighs and runs a hand through her short silver hair. “I promise, once you get to know her, I- I think you’ll really like each other.”

Amity pouts for another minute, “Alright, I’ll try. But only because you asked nicely.”

“Thank you,” Skara says genuinely. “And I wasn’t kidding before. This is really good. You’re definitely going to be published one day.”

“You really think so?” It had always been Amity’s dream, despite what her parents thought of her study choices and career goals.

Skara smiles easily, “I know so.”

“You two finished talking about me?” Boscha asks with a smirk as she slips back into her chair.

Amity frowns and is about to make a cutting reply when Boscha sets a second plate on the table in front of her and pushes it towards Amity. She looks up at her in surprise.

“I saw you didn’t have anything.” She shrugs nonchalantly. “Barista chick said blueberry’s your favourite.”

Amity reddened slightly, “Thanks, Boscha.”

“Don’t mention it. Seriously.”

They fall into an uneasy silence, Amity and Boscha picking aimlessly at their muffins while Skara continues reading.

They both look up when Skara makes a muffled sound, kind of like a gasp.

“Skara?”

Skara looks up and meets Amity’s eyes fleetingly before shying away, “Sorry, it’s just… er, it’s _really_ good.”

Boscha gets right up in Skara’s face, staring at her closely for a minute. “Babe, are you _blushing?_ ”

“What? No!” Skara says averting her eyes and putting a hand on her girlfriend’s face to push her away.

“You totally are!” Boscha crows. “Damn, Blight! What did you write?”

Now, Amity is blushing too. “I think-”

“Let me see!” Before Skara or Amity can object, Boscha snatches the pages out of her girlfriend’s hands.

“Ahem.” Boscha clears her throat. 

Amity freezes. _She wouldn’t dare._

She would.

_“Unspoken words hung like raindrops in the air between them._

_Like a moth drawn to the flame, she drew closer, unable to stop herself even if she wanted to. She did not want to.”_

Boscha grins dangerously as she continues reading.

_“She stood close enough to feel the warmth of her body, the gentle exhale of her breath on her face. Amber looked up and met brown eyes and watched, fascinated, as they darkened almost to black._

_‘Are you sure? she asked,”_ Boscha intones, gifting the character with a low husky voice before continuing with a high ringing tone for the reply. Apparently Boscha has missed her calling in the theatre.

_“‘I've never been more sure of anything in my life,’ Amber replied.”_

“Boscha, please! Stop!” Amity pleads but Boscha merely smirks and holds the pages away from her.

_“They crashed together like stormy waves on a barren coastline. Fire shot through Amber, igniting every nerve in her body and setting them aflame. Luca's lips were soft against hers, her teeth providing a sharp counterpoint as they gently nipped at her lips, eliciting groans Amber didn't even know she was capable of._

_Luca pushed and Amber allowed the other woman to guide her up against the wall, pinning her hands high above her head with one hand and attacking her exposed neck with her talented mouth._

_She pulled back from Amber with a smirk._

_‘Stay,’ she ordered and Amber trembled with anticipation but kept her hands where they were as Luca travelled lower.”_

“Well, fuck me sideways!” Boscha grins triumphantly at Amity, and fans her face dramatically, “We are just learning all kinds of things about you today!”

Amity sinks lower in her seat and desperately avoids looking towards the counter where she can just _feel_ Luz’s eyes on her. _Where’s a friendly sinkhole when you need one? Heck, at this point I would take an earthquake, fire, plague, flood, anything to get me out of this moment._ She casts a hopeful eye to the ceiling but her silent prayers for absolution are to no avail as Boscha continues.

_“She caressed soft round skin and drew high peaks through the fabric of Amber's shirt and Amber couldn't help but bring a hand down, to caress Luca's hair and hold her closer to her breast._

_‘Uh uh,’ Luca said with a grin, returning the hand to its home and biting down hard on her nipple in chastisement.”_

Amity flinches and curves in on herself as her mind and soul attempt to flee this awful situation. Her life flashes before her eyes and she wonders whether it is possible to die from embarrassment and blushing. If so, this is it for her.

She is definitely about to die.

And the last thing she would hear would be _that_ line.

Boscha lets loose a hearty snort of laughter, and reads in a loud confident voice that almost seems to echo around the busy cafe, “ _Amber groaned and knew with certainty that her underwear was utterly ruined.”_

Finally, Skara snaps out of the fugue state she seems to have fallen into and snatches the pages back from her girlfriend, “Alright, Boscha. That’s enough.”

Boscha flinches at her sharp tone, “But babe, I was only joking.”

“You took it too far.” She stands abruptly and offers the paper to Amity. “I’m sorry, Amity.”

Amity stares at the pages blankly, “I’d still like _you_ to read them, if you still want to.”

Skara holds her gaze for a moment, searching for something. Whatever she sees there seems to settle her, “I’d like that.” Then she looks sharply at Boscha, “Let’s go.”

“But babe,” Boscha wheedles as she obediently follows Skara.

“But _nothing_ , that so wasn’t cool.”

Amity can hear them continuing to argue as they take their leave. She turns her still blushing cheeks back to the table and rests her forehead against the smooth surface. She wonders if she somehow died without noticing and this strange, hipster cafe is Hell.

“Hey,” a gentle voice murmurs and Amity jumps. She didn’t think it was possible to blush deeper than she already has, but apparently she had thought wrong. “Are you ok?” Luz asks her.

She tucks her hair behind her ear with a shaking hand, “Yeah… I er… How much of that, exactly, did you hear?”

Luz slides into the chair Skara had left and shrugs, “Pretty much most of it.”

Amity cringes and looks away.

“You’re a really good writer,” Luz says gently and Amity’s eyes dart back to her face. She finds no embarrassment or pity there, just a gentle admiration.

“Th-thank you.”

“I’m a writer too, you know.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” 

Amity glances at Luz’s tattoo peeking out from her rolled up sleeve, “I always thought you were an artist,” she murmurs.

Luz grins at her, “A girl can be two things at once.” Then she looks down at the table and Amity thinks she can see a flush bursting across the other woman’s cheeks and feels a faint flicker of hope. “Maybe we could proofread each other’s work some time? If you’d like?”

“I would!” Amity blurts out, almost frantically. “I mean, that would be fun.”

“Cool.” Luz looks down at her hands on the table and seems to hesitate, “Maybe I could buy you dinner and we could talk about it then?”

Amity’s soul takes leave of her body without her permission.

“I mean, if you would like that?”

She snaps back to earth with a pleasant shudder.

“I would very much like that.”

“Great! It’s a date.” Luz pulls a napkin from a dispenser and a pen from her pocket and jots something down, “Here’s my number. Text me.”

Amity nods dumbly at her.

“Cool, I’ll see you later, Amy.” Luz drops her a wink and turns to get back to work, taking Skara and Boscha’s empty plates with her.

“Luz,” Amity calls her back.

“Yeah.”

“My name, it’s Amity.”

Luz slaps her forehead with her free hand, “Damn, I’m an idiot. I’ve been calling you Amy this whole time. Why didn’t you say something?”

Amity shrugs helplessly.

Luz’s grin widens and she shamelessly looks Amity up and down.

“Well,” she says, “I think I like Amity better.”

**Author's Note:**

> Funny story, my flat mate actually did this to me in front of my barista crush when I was a baby 19yo virgin. I was _mortified_. And, unlike Amity, I didn't get a date out of it. But all's well that ends well, I'm still friends with the guy, I'm happily married and now I have a hilarious story to share with people.
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed it.
> 
> P.S. Comments feed my soul.
> 
> P.P.S If you're interested in Skarscha as a whole, feel free to drop by [ this link](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kreJHAjg7Igt9V5V0qS5UpuKjx-SongGUc6DFnOpbD8/edit?usp=sharing), where a few friends of mine have collated information for their upcoming zine about the pairing!


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